Cyrus Northrop was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 university president.

He was born in Ridgefield, Connecticut

Ridgefield, Connecticut

Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Situated in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, the 300-year-old community had a population of 24,638 at the 2010 census. The town center, which was formerly a borough, is defined by the U.S...

. He graduated from Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 in 1857 and at the law school there in 1859. Two years later he was appointed clerk of the Connecticut House of Representatives

Connecticut House of Representatives

The Connecticut House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency containing nearly 22,600 residents...

 and in 1862 clerk of the Senate. He was professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 of rhetoric

Rhetoric

Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...

 and English literature

English literature

English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....

 at Yale from 1863 to 1884. He was president of the University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...

 from then to 1911, when he became president emeritus.

He liked to go by the name "Prexy". During his presidency the University came to rank as one of the most progressive of the State universities. Northrop published Addresses, Educational and Patriotic (1910). He encouraged poet Arthur Upson

Arthur Upson

Arthur Wheelock Upson was an American poet. He was born in Camden, New York on January 10, 1877 to Spencer Johnson Upson and Julia Claflin. His family moved from New York to Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1894, with Upson entering the University of Minnesota with the class of 1898. There, he served as...

 to revise the song, "Hail! Minnesota

Hail! Minnesota

"Hail! Minnesota" is the state song of Minnesota, and a variation is used as a school song of the University of Minnesota. It originated at the university in the early 1900s when some students decided to honor their graduating class with a new song...

."

For his leadership and vision, the Minnesota Geological Survey

Minnesota Geological Survey

The Minnesota Geological Survey is a unit of the Newton Horace Winchell School of Earth Sciences at the University of Minnesota. The Survey conducts field mapping, basic and applied research, publishes scientific and popular literature, and works toward the goal of science education through...

 honored Dr. Northrop by naming a mountain after him; Mount Northrop

Mount Northrop

Mount Northrop is a peak in the Sawtooth Mountains of northeastern Minnesota. Its elevation is above sea level, or about above Kekequabic Lake. It was named for Cyrus Northrop, who was the president of the University of Minnesota from 1884 until 1911....

 is located in Lake County

Lake County, Minnesota

Lake County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 10,866. Its county seat is Two Harbors. Lake County was founded on February 20, 1855, as Superior County, though its name was changed on March 3, of that year to St. Louis County. On March 1, 1856, St...

, in the range of the Sawtooth Mountains

Sawtooth Mountains (Minnesota)

The Sawtooth Mountains are a range of low, serrated ridges situated on the North Shore of Lake Superior in the U.S. state of Minnesota, extending about 30 miles from Carlton Peak near Tofte on the west, to Grand Marais on the east.-Description:...

.

In addition, the Northrop Auditorium on the University of Minnesota campus and the Northrop Collegiate School (now Blake School) are named after him.